Elastic scattering of protons from 15N

Background: Resonances observed through elastic scattering of protons on 15N can provide information about the partial widths, spin parities, and energies of excited states in 16O near the proton separation energy. This is the same energy region important for the nuclear astrophysics reactions 15N(p,γ)16O and 15N(p,α)12C. While previous measurements have been made, they are limited in scope, especially in their angular coverage. Purpose: Obtain additional 15N(p,p)15N reaction data which can be used in a global multiple-channel R-matrix analysis of the 16O compound nucleus in order to better constrain the level parameters of states which contribute to the reaction 15N(p,γ)16O. Methods: Measure the excitation functions of 15N(p,p)15N over an energy range from Ep = 0.6 to 1.8 MeV at laboratory angles of 90∘, 105∘, 135∘, 150∘, and 165∘. The reaction 15N(p,α0)12C was measured concurrently. Results: Ratios of the excitation functions were extracted from the yield data. Resonances were identified in the yield ratio data which correspond to previously reported levels in 16O. An R-matrix analysis, which fits the present data as well as previous measurements from the literature simultaneously, finds reasonable agreement between the current measurements and those in the literature. Conclusions: The additional data from this measurement will be combined with previous literature data in a comprehensive R-matrix analysis of reactions which populate 16O over a similar energy region